Johannesburg - The South African Revenue Service (Sars) and National Treasury on Friday signed a five-year memorandum of co-operation (MoC) with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), agreeing to continue to work together in the area of taxation.

The MoC provides for the continuation of such co-operation towards the achievement of the common objective of promoting fair and efficient tax systems and administrations, strengthening and modernising international taxation areas through the sharing of experiences between Sars, National Treasury and OECD member countries.

Sars said the three parties have a long history of collaboration and the MoC is in place until December 2023.

During the signing ceremony Ben Dickinson, head of the OECD global relations at the Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, said he was delighted by the strengthening their partnership with Sars and National Treasury.

"We have together delivered successful training events as part of the Global Relations Programmes in the past years and I look forward to expanding our collaboration to blended learning and e-learning in 2019," Dickinson said.

Dondo Mogajane, director-general of National Treasury, said: "It is through cooperative ventures such as the one we have entered into with the OECD that we can enhance our efforts to collect taxes and strengthen our democracy."

Mark Kingon said the OECD–South African collaboration in the areas of tax policy and administration over the past years have been immensely beneficial for all parties involved.

“Extending this by a further five years is therefore the natural thing to do. I am pleased for the continuation of the structured relationship that the MoC with the OECD will provide Sars with, particularly in focusing on a whole-of-government approach to tax administration, as well as further honing the skills of our officials in international taxation," Kingon said.